Smarter Health Options
  • Home
  • COVERAGES
    • ACA "Market Place Plans" >
      • Cigna Health Plans
      • HealthSherpa
      • Anthem Blue Cross, Blue Shield
      • Oscar
    • Short-Term Health Insurance Plans
    • Limited Medical Plans
    • Cancer Care Protection
    • Critical Illness Protection
    • Limited Income Health Plans
    • DENTAL DISCOUNT PROGRAM
    • Accidental Death and Dismemberment
    • Dental Coverage
    • GoodRx Prescription Discount Card for free!
  • ABOUT US
  • GET A QUOTE
    • Needs Assessment
  • BLOG
  • CONTACT
    • My Benefits Keeper
    • The MultiPlan Network
    • The First Health Network
    • Aetna Dental Provider Lookup
    • Outlook Vision Provider Lookup
    • Prescription Discount Drug Price Lookup
    • TELADOC
    • KARIS 360
    • Health Care.gov
    • Health Insurance Marketplace Calculator
    • Seminars and Workshops
    • Career Opportunities

Why black Americans are at higher risk for Coronavirus...

4/7/2020

0 Comments

 
Black Americans have more existing medical issues, less access to health care, and are more likely to work in unstable jobs -- all factors that have made the coronavirus pandemic disproportionately hurt blacks more.

While everyone is susceptible to Covid-19, black Americans are at higher risk, Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams said during an appearance on CBS This Morning on Tuesday.
​
That racial disparity has been evident in early data on coronavirus deaths in Louisiana, Illinois, Michigan and New Jersey. The federal government has not tracked coronavirus by demographic groups, but Adams and American Medical Association President Dr. Patrice Harris suggested they begin to do so.
"We have early evidence that we need to pay particular attention to race and ethnicity," Harris said Tuesday.
Click Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said Monday that, of the 512 coronavirus deaths so far, more than 70 percent were African American patients, who make up just 32 percent of the state's population. to edit.
Click here toChicago, too, has seen similar numbers: Among those for whom race-ethnicity is known, 72% of the city's deaths have been among blacks, who make up just 30% of the city's population.
"This new data offers a deeply concerning glimpse into the spread of Covid-19 and is a stark reminder of the deep-seated issues which have long created disparate health impacts in communities across Chicago," said Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
​
A combination of structural factors means that black people are getting infected more and dying more of coronavirus, said Dr. Camara Phyllis Jones, a family physician and epidemiologist.
Picture
Picture
"What's happening is black folks are getting infected more because they are exposed more, and once infected they're dying more because they have their bodies -- our bodies -- have born the burden of chronic disinvestment (and) active neglect of the community," she said. "When I look at it is because of structural racism, which puts us in the forward facing jobs so that we are exposed and less valued and don't have the protection that we need."
​
President Donald Trump recognized the issue during the White House's coronavirus news briefing on Tuesday.
​
"We're actively engaging on the problem of increased impacts -- this is a real problem and it's showing up very strongly in our data -- on the African-American community," Trump said. "And we're doing everything in our power to address this challenge. It's a tremendous challenge. It's terrible."
Picture
​Existing Chronic Diseases

People with underlying conditions are more affected by Covid-19, and in the United States, black people are more likely to have underlying health issues like diabetes, heart disease and lung disease, Adams said.

"I've shared myself personally that I have high blood pressure. That I have heart disease and spent a week in the (intensive care unit) due to a heart condition. That I actually have asthma and I'm pre-diabetic, and so I represent that legacy of growing up poor and black in America," Adams said. "I and many black Americans are at higher risk for Covid. It's why we need everyone to do their part to slow the spread."

Adams added "it breaks my heart" to hear about higher Covid-19 death rates among the black community -- and he emphasized that the recommendations to stay at home and follow mitigation measures to slow the spread of the coronavirus are for everyone.

Some of these health issues are related to the environment, such as the water quality in Flint, Michigan state Rep. Tyrone Carter said.
​
"This pandemic just magnifies what we already knew: Access to health care, environmental issues in certain communities, air quality, water quality. We think about Flint and think about my district who has air issues, asthma," he said.
Picture
Access to Health Care

Compared to white people, blacks have lower levels of health insurance coverage and are less likely to have insurance coverage through an employer.

A 2015 report from the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured explained why having access to health care is so important for receiving proper care, pandemic or not.
​
"The access barriers facing uninsured people mean they are less likely to receive preventive care, are more likely to be hospitalized for conditions that could have been prevented, and are more likely to die in the hospital than those with insurance," the report said.

That lack of access exacerbates the impact of the outbreak, said Carter, who himself tested positive for coronavirus.
​
"When we talk about health care, it's easy to say that it's accessible, but to people that don't have a job, a service job that has health care, sometimes they use urgent care or the emergency room as their primary care physician," he said. "So what this has done is magnified those issues to show that there is still a huge gap between races when it comes to health care."

Picture
Loss of Jobs

​The widespread shutdown of non-essential businesses has hurt black and Hispanic workers at a higher rate.

William Rodgers, chief economist at the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University, estimated that the true rate of unemployment is likely 20.7% percent for African Americans rather than the official rate of 4.1%, and 18.7% for Hispanic workers, as opposed to the official rate of 6%.

He said that the higher unemployment rates for minorities and young workers is primarily because the sectors in which they typically work will be more affected by current lockdown policies in much of the country.

"Those groups' jobs were at greater risk going into this downturn," he said.
Black and Hispanic workers are also "much less likely" to be able to work from home, said Heidi Shierholz, senior economist and director of policy at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, and fellow economist Elise Gould.

"It just comes down to the fact that in the United States there's still a lot of occupational segregation by race and ethnicity," said Shierholz, who was the Department of Labor's chief economist from 2014 to 2017.
​
For example, she said, there's a large concentration of Hispanic workers in construction and a large concentration of black workers in service sector jobs. The economists' analysis notes that most low-wage workers can't telework.

Crowded conditions

Coronavirus spreads faster in locations with higher density, such as cities. Black Americans are more likely to live in urban counties than suburban or rural ones, according to a Pew analysis. And within those areas, black Americans are more likely to have lower incomes, which may press them into crowded living situations, CNN's Van Jones writes.
​
While health officials have recommended that infected people isolate from others, that may not be possible for people living in housing projects, homeless shelters or prisons and jails -- all places with disproportionate black populations.


Data in Chicago, for example, shows that black non-Latino people were more likely to be infected with coronavirus and to die of it. Black non-Latino people made up 52% of all coronavirus cases in the city, and adjusted for population, this group was more than twice as likely to be infected as white non-Latino people.Allison Arwady, Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health, said that these racial health disparities were evident in Chicago before the covid-19 outbreak.

"As a City, under the Mayor's leadership, we've been facing these huge, historic problems head-on. But our COVID-19 data is a clear reflection of these underlying inequities," she said in a statement. "This is true in Chicago, and true around the U.S."

​CNN's Gina Yu, Maegan Vazquez, Pierre Meilhan, Konstantin Toropin, Fernando Alfonso III, Chris Isidore and Catherine Shoichet contributed to this report.
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    View my profile on LinkedIn

    Terence S. Phillips

    is the founder of 
    Smarter Health Plans and TSP Financial Group and has been in the accounting, finance, budgeting, banking, insurance, auditing, and real estate arena for over 35 years. 

    Picture

    79% of Americans agree they would benefit from having basic financial education and information.

    ​Source: The 2018 Consumer Financial Literacy Survey, The National Foundation for Credit Counseling.
                 ---------------
    ​45% of American workers have saved less than $25,000 for retirement, and 26% have saved less than $1,000.
    ​

    Source: Employee Benefit Research Institute, 2018
                 ---------------
    Will you outlive your retirement income? Are your financial expectations for the coming year realistic?

    Our financial newsletters are designed to provide helpful information on a wide variety of financial topics.  Simply click on one of the newsletter topics to read the article in its entirety.

    Archives

    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

      Subscribe To Our Newsletter

    Subscribe
    Picture
    Picture

Corporate Office
Assurance IQ, Inc.
10500 NE 8th St
Bellevue, WA 98004

Fort Myers Office
13650 Fiddlesticks Blvd.
​Suite 202-175
Fort Myers FL 33912

Picture
Picture
DRIVEN BY ETERNITY

Smarter Health Options

Picture
When it comes to preparing for the future it’s important to work with someone who has the foresight and proven experience to help you navigate life’s changes successfully.

That’s where we come in.  Whether you’re just starting out, growing your business, getting ready for expansion, or looking for a way to protect all that you’ve worked for, our consultants can help you find the right solutions to make the most of today, tomorrow, and the years to come.
 
Contact us to find out what we can do to help you, your family, and your business.
Picture
Terence S. Phillips, License Agent
Florida License No. W472774
NPN# 18727754
​Agent Code# CLH12509412

An Assurance IQ, Inc., Agent
Licensed In 38 States In The USA
------------------------------------------------
​​I Am Blessed To Be A Blessing
​To You, Your Family, and
​Your Business!
Picture
Picture
Picture

“We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.”
Smarter Health Options  Copyright 2020.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
​13650 Fiddlesticks Blvd. Suite 202-175 | Myers FL 33912

Quote@SmarterHealthOptions.com
​O:  888-998-1994
 | F:  239-236-0211
Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Affiliate Disclosures
| Site-Map

Contact Us
​1-888-998-1994

Quote@SmarterHealthOptions.com

    Subscribe To Our News Letter Today!

Submit
Picture
GET YOUR FREE QUOTE

LIMITED INCOME?
HEALTH DISCOUNT PROGRAM
Picture
  • Home
  • COVERAGES
    • ACA "Market Place Plans" >
      • Cigna Health Plans
      • HealthSherpa
      • Anthem Blue Cross, Blue Shield
      • Oscar
    • Short-Term Health Insurance Plans
    • Limited Medical Plans
    • Cancer Care Protection
    • Critical Illness Protection
    • Limited Income Health Plans
    • DENTAL DISCOUNT PROGRAM
    • Accidental Death and Dismemberment
    • Dental Coverage
    • GoodRx Prescription Discount Card for free!
  • ABOUT US
  • GET A QUOTE
    • Needs Assessment
  • BLOG
  • CONTACT
    • My Benefits Keeper
    • The MultiPlan Network
    • The First Health Network
    • Aetna Dental Provider Lookup
    • Outlook Vision Provider Lookup
    • Prescription Discount Drug Price Lookup
    • TELADOC
    • KARIS 360
    • Health Care.gov
    • Health Insurance Marketplace Calculator
    • Seminars and Workshops
    • Career Opportunities